KAMELOT Scaring Up a Second Round Of Ghost Stories

KAMELOT Scaring Up a Second Round Of Ghost Stories

Special report by Mark Gromen

Home from a successful second leg of the Ghost Opera European tour (22 dates between April 4 and May 3, covering 15 countries on the mainland, Scandinavia and the UK), founder/guitarist Thom Youngblood talked with BW&BK about the band’s continuously rising stature, the expanded, 2CD version of Ghost Opera: The Second Coming and scheduled Fall tour in the USA.

First off, the live CD accompanying the re-release. Was a reissue planned all along, or just something that became realistic, once the Belgrade show was in the can?

“A reissue was discussed a few months before the re-release, but we had different ideas for this. A Ballads album was one of them, but that was put aside for now. We shot video at the Belgrade show and we record almost all the (audio portion of all the) shows on ProTools. After thinking about it, we decided to release a live CD from Belgrade. Then the idea to combine the reissue and live CD came about, to make sure the reissue was more than just a bunch bonus tracks. We have new photos in the booklet, new layout, new cover, bonus tracks, two videos and more. The promos that were sent out (to journalists, for review) do not show any of this, unfortunately, but we wanted to give the fans for most in this reissue.”

Were your sights always set on that specific date for a live recording or did it sort of fall into your lap, after the fact?

We recorded the last four videos for Ghost Opera in Serbia, so we had a great connection there for this. As I mentioned, we usually record all the shows’ audio (portions) for possible future use. So having the video from that show made the Belgrade material an obvious choice. We have been working with ICode and they are really cool people. They have tons of resources for extras which usually includes models. They do killer CGI stuff, like in our latest video, ‘Rule The World’.”

Is the bonus CD an entire concert, as it seems a bit heavy on Ghost Opera material, at the expense of older material? Was that the intention, or were the others edited out?

“We recorded the whole show, but some of the older material is part of a different contract and record company. We still have some of the songs from Ghost Opera, like ‘Mourning Star’ and anything from The Black Halo. I don’t think we will use it, but never say never. It’s not that easy to use older songs, so some of time we have to stay within the SPV Catalog, as in this case.”

‘Momento Mori' was recorded as a live video, does that mean the whole show was as well, or is it one of those Euro-festival deals, where they can only film a couple of songs? Regardless, I guess it’s something else to be stashed away, for possible use later (like a DVD)?

“We have the whole show on a hard drive ready to be edited whenever we feel the need. I am thinking of some big ideas for the next full DVD, so it is unlikely we will use much of that show in the future. We have two really cool offers for some very special location concerts, along with orchestra and more. It’s all in talks at the moment, but the next DVD will be unique and over the top!”

Sounds great! This re-release allowed the band to make a second tour run overseas. How, if any, did those dates differ than the earlier shows for Ghost Opera?

“The cool thing about the last few albums is that they continue to sell as strong today as they did on the initial week of release! That means there are new fans everyday, making touring multiple times an option.”

“We toured Europe a month before the original Ghost Opera came out. It was risky, but turned out to be a good move. The shows were packed and it gave fans a chance to hear the new songs live. We played four songs from Ghost Opera on that tour. With the reissue, we added one or two more and also changed the set with some different older songs like ‘Elizabeth’, ‘Fourth Legacy’ and ‘Nights Of Arabia’. The recent European was even better attended than the first, so we applied some of the new logic to touring in the States to Europe. On the US tour this time we will hit some prime repeat cities as well as adding new ones we missed, like Atlanta, Seattle, San Fran. We will likely change the set again for upcoming US tour.”

Speaking of the US tour, when you left, it was just a rumour, with a couple of leaked dates. Now they’re all online, at your website (www.kamelot.com ). What else do you envision for KAMELOT in the next year or so?

“Yes, the tour is now official and we look forward to that big time. At some point this year we will begin working on a new album. We are creatively ready for this and we have a ton of ideas for songs, lyrics and imagery. I expect to have a new release in the Fall of 2009, and an even more massive touring schedule to support it. We're just getting started!”

Talk about the remix of 'Rule The World'. Where did the idea come from?

“We all thought that song would be good for a remix. It was done by Sascha (Paeth, producer). He sent us the first version and we tweaked it a little.”

'Pendulous Fall' was a bonus on one edition and 'Season's End' was the Japanese bonus. How did you decide what to "leave off” the original edition of Ghost Opera?

“This is always difficult and a source of debate amongst the band and producers. I really wanted ‘Seasons End’ on the album, but we also didn’t want too many ballads. So there is always some balancing that must occur. Sometimes the decision is right, sometimes it’s wrong. In hindsight I am glad ‘Seasons End’ was the Japanese bonus and now with in on the reissue we can add it to the set.”


You and Khan are used to extended stays in Europe, having lived/worked there. How are the rest of the guys adapting to these longer, more frequent stays away from Florida (especially in the colder weather)?

“Actually, at the end of the recent five week tour we were all ready to go for two to three weeks more. The conditions have improved now and every night on stage is the highlight of this profession. The fans and the band together… it’s really a great experience for us.”

Ghost Opera, The Second Coming features the original incarnation of the album, a pair of videos, ten live tracks and four extra studio cuts.